The Richard Rogers' design required over 75,000 luminaires, which Thorn evolved in close co-operation with BAA, its lighting designers, Spiers and Major, and four of the principle contractors: AMEC, Crown House, Balfour Beatty Rail Projects and Balfour Kilpatrick.

Performance
There can be few projects more demanding of a lighting company's expertise and product range than a true 21st century airport catering for 30 million passengers a year. For a start, the whole enterprise is on a gigantic scale. In addition to the four-storey core terminal building, the £4.3 bn complex also consists of two, lower, satellite buildings (the second of which will be completed by 2010), a new air traffic control tower, a linked 3,800 space multi-storey car park, six dedicated rail platforms, 112 retail outlets, a 600 guest room hotel, an energy centre and a new spur road from the M25. The size of 50 football pitches T5 must be effectively lit 24/7.

This is customisation on a massive scale. Bespoke luminaire solutions range from modifications of standard products to the creation of something completely new, from proof fittings in the multi-storey car park to integrating Menlo Circular fluorescents within large white ceiling disks near the passport control areas.

Efficiency
Efficient operation is essential especially in relation to available daylight, hence low energy luminaires are used throughout, the majority of which employ controllable DALI ballasts. These are linking to light sensors, movement detectors and timers to automatically dim or switch off lighting where not required.

Comfort
The BAA brief was to balance the need for functional lighting, with the need to highlight and give expression to the architectural features of the building. The spacious terminal buildings, for example, employ special triple-headed roof lighting modules. A 35W HIT-CE spotlight, with half cowl visor, highlights the girders of the vaulted roof. A 250W HIT-CE spotlight, with concentric baffle, gives directional downlight to the passenger areas below. A single 42W CFL housing provides emergency lighting.

In areas of the terminal where natural light is limited, such as the underground station platform areas, blue lighting provides accent lighting (Titus luminaires with 35W T5 lamps).